50 Moments Seemed Like Eternity
Disclaimer: Bleach and all of its characters pertaining to this story belong to their original creator Tite Kubo.
#01 – Motion
Matsumoto was a fast paced, buxom fury in the battlefield; Hitsugaya often wondered what happened to that Matsumoto when comparing her to the one sleeping on the couch six feet away from him.
#02 – Cool
Curling into a little ball, Hitsugaya shivered, not because of the cold, but of the heat surrounding him in the cocoon of blankets Unohana-tachio insisted on covering him with; he sighed in relief when Matsumoto threw the sweat-drenched blankets to the ground and placed a cold, wet rag on his overheated forehead.
#03 – Young
Blood splattered on his face, Hitsugaya looked far older than his actual age, but with his head resting on Matsumoto's lap, her slender fingers gently brushing his soft, white hair, he looked like the little brat that ate watermelon on warm days.
#04 – Last
Hot tears of anger falling down her cheeks, Matsumoto threw her last bottle of sake at an old picture of Gin, blaming him for making her waste a good bottle of sake.
#05 – Wrong
He was destined to be with Hinamori, that was what everyone said, so why did Matsumoto want to grab him and drag him away from the girl and yell at him to look at her only.
#06 – Gentle
Walking past other shinigami to get to the sanctuary of her division's territory, Matsumoto casually overheard the rumors of Hitsugaya being a cold, rigid taicho but… they never saw the small, soft smile that flickered on his young face when she arrived in his office, placing a steaming cup of tea on his desk.
#07 – One
Matsumoto promptly snatched the last slice of watermelon from just beneath Renji's grubbing hands and placed it directly in front of Hitsugaya, who showed his gratification by cutting it evenly in half and handing her a piece.
#08 – Thousand
Seeing Hinamori talk to Hitsugaya and hearing her utter 'Shiro-chan' in that annoying voice of hers, Matsumoto wanted to stab Haineko into her a thousand times over, but she would be disgracing not only Haineko, but her taicho.
#09 – King
"Gin once captured my heart but…you are the one who ultimately rules it," Matsumoto murmured to Hitsugaya's unconscious form as she sat by his bedside in one of Fourth Division horribly uncomfortable chairs.
#10 – Learn
Hitsugaya's eyes scrutinized the bottle of heavily watered down sake Matsumoto placed in front of him, but if he looked anything like the foolishly drunk Renji a few seats away, he didn't even want to be in the same vicinity as the bottle.
#11 – Blur
Desperation was running rampant through her body as she held Haineko in her steady, bloody hands, the feeling of a familiar reiatsu nearby and a blur of white nearly made Matsumoto drop to her knees in relief.
#12 – Wait
Matsumoto always hated waiting, especially in the Fourth Division headquarters; it was even worse when she was waiting for her taicho to open his eyes.
#13 – Change
Wiping away the steamed mirror of its condensation, he looked at his reflection and mentally gasped; he didn't have to lean on his toes to look at himself.
#14 – Command
Matsumoto, looking down at her newly appointed taicho whom she could barely see because of her breasts, somehow captured his determined teal eyes with her own; he gained her loyalty that very moment.
#15 – Hold
"Please Hitsugaya-taicho, I won't drink anymore…I'll even do the paperwork, just please, please, don't die," Matsumoto mumbled into his futon, her breathing and body shaking uncontrollably when she received no reply, not even a twitch that he heard her voice.
#16 – Need
The first day living in Orihime's bedroom, Hitsugaya had the strange feeling of homesickness in his new, foreign surroundings, but when Matsumoto crawled into his bed in the middle of the night, spooning against him, the scent of familiarity hit him straight on.
#17 – Vision
He was getting taller…Matsumoto idly noted; she could see his face past her bust when he stood in front of her.
#18 – Attention
Having his fukutaicho skip when they took their walks drew…unwanted attention, especially from the male shinigami passing by who watched in fascination as they…she bounced; their gazes immediately dropped to the ground when they felt they felt the temperature lower a few degrees as Hitsugaya past by them.
#19 – Soul
It was chipping…her very being was slowly breaking before his eyes as she clutched a bottle of sake…Hitsugaya clenched his hand around the scabbard of Hyorinmaru; he had failed another person important to him.
#20 – Picture
First stepping into Matsumoto's apartment, Hitsugaya was shocked to see a startlingly large, framed picture of him near the living room; he was glaring at the camera while Matsumoto had him firmly held from behind, her breasts comfortably resting on his shoulders.
#21 – Fool
Seeing Hinamori walk close to Hitsugaya, a small, reserved smile on his face, Matsumoto couldn't help but wish she had stayed behind in the office, finishing paperwork rather than seeing that smile on his face.
#22 – Mad
Hitsugaya was used to those oh-so quiet whispers about his height, but his anger dissipated when Matsumoto walked over to the onlookers, smiling that sweet smile of death.
#23 – Child
Slowly as to not awaken her deeply sleeping taicho, Matsumoto easily carried him toward the couch and placed him onto the couch, her spot from earlier still warm.
#24 – Now
"You're alive…you're alive," Hitsugaya repeated over and over again as he held fukutaicho's bloodied, but still breathing form close to him; she was still here with him.
#25 – Shadow
She lost Gin to the shadows, his grin never faltering as he turned his back to her, she knew it would be different this time: Matsumoto had a firm belief Hitsugaya would never get lost in the shadows, she would fight tooth and nail to find the speck of white that she knew belonged to her small taicho.
#26 - Goodbye
She refused, Matsumoto absolutely refused to say goodbye to Hitsugaya, even if they were only a class apart, it's a good thing the principal, with a little persuasion and puppy dog eyes, personally recommended her to transfer to Hitsugaya's class.
#27 – Hide
He was hiding from the world behind stacks and stacks of crisp, white forms…Matsumoto bit her lip, he needed to get away from the Soul Society, every corner and sight reminded him of his failure with Gin.
#28 – Fortune
Hugging him close to her chest, Matsumoto squealed as a bright, shiny gold marble fell from the machine, he had won two tickets to hot springs; Hitsugaya, his face pressed between her ample breasts, felt he won a better prize.
#29 – Safe
The quiet of her apartment always made it difficult for her to sleep, especially when sober, but the soft, scratching sound of Hitsugaya's pen, and the slight rustle of paper, always conked her right out.
#30 – Ghost
Hitsugaya bowed his head as he stamped the young girl's forehead, sending her to Soul Society, Matsumoto, who stood next to him, gently brushed her fingers against his cheek.
#31 – Book
Matsumoto chuckled at her sleeping taicho; the book in his lap had fallen to the ground, revealing the manga that he hid behind it.
#32 – Eye
She knew her taicho would never lie to her; those vibrant teal eyes of his would never lie to her, unlike Gin's.
#33 – Never
No one had ever done this before, Matsumoto thought as Hitsugaya briefly touched her wrist that held Haineko in gratitude; he trusted her to watch his back on the battlefield, unlike her previous captain who merely kept her on for her…assets.
#34 – Sing
Hitsugaya trembled beneath his blanket, images of a comatose Hinamori flashing through his head every time he closed his eyes, but a soft, familiar hand brushing against his hair and a sweet, soprano voice softly sang to him, even after he fell into a dreamless sleep.
#35 – Sudden
Holding his stiff form from behind, she felt him tense with the unexpected hug, but to her delight, he didn't resist when she squished him closer.
#36 – Stop
Yanking Hitsugaya's pen from his hand, Matsumoto glared at him lightly before placing a plate with a small mountain's worth of food on it, reprimanding him like a mother hen that his health came before paperwork.
#37 – Time
Time stopped as he held her close, pressing a kiss to her temple, reassuring her that he would not leave her.
#38 – Wash
Beneath the molten hot jets of water, Matsumoto cried, pounding her fists against the wall as her mind constantly flickered to the image of her taicho, half dead, and Gin…who was the cause of that horrible memory.
#39 – Torn
Gin held his hand out to her, asking her to join him, but her eyes dodged to the side, Hitsugaya needed her.
#40 – History
Hitsugaya blinked at the bright, red A on Matsumoto's test paper she received from the teacher, she would know all of those answers of course; she was working as a shinigami when all those events occurred.
#41 – Power
"Hyorinmaru, lend me your strength," Hitsugaya took a shuddering breath, his blood steadily dripping down to the ground, "So that I can protect the ones dear to me."
#42 – Bother
Doing not only his paperwork, but regularly Matsumoto's share of it, Hitsugaya was slightly surprised, if not annoyed, when he woke up in his office; he wasn't surprised to have a large, comfy quilt draped over him every morning.
#43 – God
Her taicho…her adorable, little taicho on the ground, half dead in a pool of blood…his blood…Matsumoto cried to the heavens as she ran to him.
#44 – Wall
Matsumoto clapped ecstatically, patting Hitsugaya's head when she measured the newest notch on the doorframe, he had grown a good half inch from last month.
#45 – Naked
"M-Matsumoto, put on your cloths this instant, this is a command," Hitsugaya held his hand in front of his eyes, trying to look at anything other than Matsumoto who had conveniently leaned down to look at him…wearing only a towel.
#46 – Drive
If…she were in the same condition as Hinamori, would he try just as hard as to kill the man who had done that to her, Matsumoto speculated as she leaned against the doorway, watching her taicho's hunched figure near Hinamori's bedside.
#47 – Harm
Blood dripping down her face, Matsumoto only gripped Haineko harder; she refused to show any weakness in front of her taicho.
#48 – Precious
Looking through a photo album Hitsugaya stashed behind several conveniently placed books, Matsumoto cooed at a particular picture of him sitting beside a watermelon that was almost as big as he was.
#49 – Hunger
Watching Matsumoto lick the food that Rukia called a 'popsicle', Hitsugaya felt a foreign, almost pleasurable feeling pool in the pit of his stomach.
#50 – Believe
Every step Hitsugaya took was another step toward the endless pitch of darkness that had ensnared him into its endless grasp, but he held firm, he would exit out of this darkness, if only for his fukutaicho, who he could faintly hear, crying for him to open his eyes.
SS: Well...the only thing I can think of saying right now is...I guess, Happy New Year! That, and the normal C&C would be very much appreciated!